Beginnings are delicate, his father had always said. So Nharadh reminds himself, facing the captain of the Gondorians newly sent to Khera Fortress to help watch Harad's dusty roads. Such is the new diplomacy, but Nharadh is no diplomat, and heavy silence threatens.

But Guests are sacred, it was written, and so trusting wisdom: "Welcome and thrice-welcome in my home, Bergil."